by Karen Booth
Standing still in the center of a room for fifty-five minutes was not an exciting job. Jenna usually passed the time by letting her mind wander, avoiding unpleasant topics—her roommate at the top of that list. Today, her mind was unable to wander, returning in an endless loop to the same subject—Tim.
Professor Giles called out, “Change.”
Jenna placed her hand on her hip and bent her opposite knee, wiggling her toes, which had gone to sleep. She didn’t know what to make of Tim. He was unbelievably handsome and sexy too, better looking than any guy she’d ever dated. He was funny, making her laugh with seemingly no real effort on his part. He was sweet too. He’d come to her rescue, for God’s sake. There had to be something wrong with him. Maybe he’s a murderer. That’s probably why he had to move from England. He’s dodging the Bobbies or whatever they call them. The whole musician thing is just a line to pick up women. He has a chainsaw in that guitar case.
She smiled, remembering the exchange when she’d drawn the map on his hand. She shook her head when Giles ordered her to change again. Shopping would be a good chance to get a better gauge on Tim and what he was really up to. She couldn’t begin to imagine that she would be lucky enough to have a guy that great just fall into her lap. Actually, I wish I could fall into his lap, mess up that hair he loves so much, smooth my hand across his chest. That could be fun.
Tim was waiting for her after class, leaning against one of the massive pillars outside the building. She saw him before he saw her. He had sunglasses on and was already dressed for his audition in a pressed white shirt with gray tie, dark-wash jeans and black leather shoes. Her breath caught when he turned. He didn’t hesitate to give her a broad smile as he took long strides toward her.
“There she is. The model,” he said.
“Figure model. There’s a difference.”
“Right. And you’re sure you wear clothes?”
“Yes, I wear this.” She tugged at the neck of her leotard beneath her sheer dress. “I tried to get the job reclining naked on a red velvet settee while men served me grapes, but it was taken.”
He snapped his fingers in disappointment. “The best ones always are.” He removed his sunglasses and his flickering eyes returned her gaze.
“You look very handsome.”
“I had to make a good showing for our shopping trip. Don’t want the salesgirls wondering what you’re doing with a bum like me.” He winked and put his sunglasses back on. “Shall we?”
Jenna led the way. “I thought we’d go down to some vintage shops in SoHo. Sound good?”
“I trust you.” Tim walked with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans. Even at midday, a chill remained in the air. “I admit I haven’t eaten all day, either.”
Jenna shook her head. “All of my recommendations gone to waste.”
“I know. Sorry. My body clock is squirrelly right now.”
“All right. Food first. I know the perfect place. Falafel okay?”
“Perfect.”
They made their way across Washington Square Park to Mamoun’s, a New York institution and some of the best cheap food in the city. It was packed with the lunchtime rush and the few tall tables outside were taken, so they decided to walk while they ate.
Jenna took a bite of her pita, the falafel crunchy on the outside, creamy and hot on the inside. “Careful with the tahini,” she said, pointing at his mouth. “I don’t want to send you to your audition a complete mess.”
Tim wiped the sauce from his lips. “Thanks. I don’t think I realized how hungry I was.” He took his last bite and tossed the paper wrapper in a trashcan. “I couldn’t fall asleep last night and then I couldn’t wake up this morning. I kept rolling over and nodding off.”
Her mind flew to the mental image of Tim lazing in bed, imagining the bare skin of his chest. He looked so delicious wrapped up in that dress shirt she was curious as hell to see what he looked like underneath it. “I couldn’t sleep last night either. Too bad. We could have talked on the phone.”
“Ah. But you haven’t given me your number.”
She smiled and dropped the Mamoun’s bag in the trash before she stepped to the door of the first shop. “I can fix that.”
He took the door and held it for her, making her tingly when she passed close to him. “I’m guessing you can fix a lot of things.”
The shop was artfully arranged, everything impeccably displayed—vintage seemed like more of a misnomer than a description of the store. The clothing was certainly from another era, but almost everything was unworn or only very gently used. It had all been cleaned and pressed and the usual musty basement smell was absent.
Tim went straight for a rack of military jackets and coats.
Jenna joined him, flipping through hangers, coming across a navy wool pea coat with black buttons. “What about this? It looks like it would fit.”
“Let’s give it a go.”
Jenna made eye contact with Tim’s reflection as he stood before the three-way full-length mirror. He slid his arms into the sleeves and she watched as they met his wrists at the perfect spot. He overlapped the front and buttoned it. The coat made his eyes shift to a sublimely darker shade and she found herself drawn to him. She had to pretend to brush away a piece of lint when she caught herself reaching for his back.
“Well?” he asked, his eyebrows arching, making her dizzy.
The words caught in her throat. As much as he was stunning in it, she wanted to tell Tim to take off the coat. She longed to loosen his tie, unbutton his shirt, unfasten his belt. She imagined pulling him into a fitting room, zipping the black drape closed and running her hand down the front of his jeans. She saw him stripping away her dress and leotard. His eyes, full of craving, would wash over her. He would kiss her neck and trail his mouth to her breasts, his tongue hot against her puckered skin. He’d tell her he wanted to take her against the mirror, hitch her legs around him, totally in control. Tim would rock her world, whispering every sexy thing he wanted to do to her with that velvety voice of his until they collapsed into each other, a sweaty, breathy heap.
“Well?” Tim asked. “Jenna?”
She blinked. “I think you found your coat.” What is my problem?
“Smashing. Sold. Anything else?”
“One more thing,” Jenna said, rubbing her thumb along her lower lip.
In twenty minutes, Tim had found the perfect black suit coat, which Jenna insisted he wear to the audition. He looked incredible in it.
He pulled back the sleeve and checked his watch. “I should probably go. Don’t want to be late. I’m hoping they’ll let me warm up before the actual audition.”
I had the perfect warm-up exercise in mind. “Oh, okay. Of course.” Jenna’s mind scrambled for a way to see him again.
“Do I still get to have your number?” Tim pulled his phone from his pants pocket. “So I can let you know how it goes?”
Jenna beamed at him and rattled off her number while digging for her phone in her bag. “I get yours too, right?”
Tim reciprocated, but then Jenna felt as if she was back at square one. Now what?
“Uh,” he began, “I’ll need to have a proper dinner tonight if I’m ever going to get on a schedule. Would you like to join me?”
“Yes,” she blurted. She pursed her lips, wondering if she’d seemed too enthusiastic. “We can celebrate when you get this job.”
“If I don’t, I’ll need someone to put me in a cab after many pints of beer.”
She tried to keep from bouncing on her toes, unable to wipe the grin from her face.
“I’ll call you when I’m done.” He shifted the shopping bag that contained his warmer coat.
“Here.” She reached for it. “Let me take that. You’ll look like a homeless guy if you show up to your audition with this.”
He grinned and extended his arm, their fingers brushing as they made the exchange. “I see how you American girls are. Now I have to call you. You’ve got my coat.” His sce
nt flooded her senses, his eyes soft and dreamy.
Jenna caressed her throat with the tips of her fingers. She couldn’t begin to imagine how an instant of eye contact could feel so intoxicating.
* * * * *
The audition went brilliantly. The manager offered Tim two nights a week, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Pay plus tips. He was thrilled. Jenna was right, the restaurant was plush. He was glad she’d made him buy the dress coat.
He rang her as he made his way across Sixth Avenue. Her voice sounded sweet and sexy, which brought an instant smile to his face.
“Are you ready to celebrate?” he asked.
“You got the job?”
“Yes, I start tomorrow night.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Should I come around and pick you up?” He glanced at his watch. It was already past six, by the time he got to her place it would definitely be dinner time.
“Actually.” She paused and he felt his stomach fall. He thought she was about to back out. “I have to drop something off at the café, so I was just about to head over. We could meet there. I know a great place, if you like Mexican.”
“Perfect.”
He put his phone back in his pocket and felt it buzz against his leg. Thinking it was Jenna calling back, he opened it without looking.
Gavin’s voice greeted him instead. “So, how did it go? Are you employed?”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic. I knew you’d get it. What are you doing to celebrate? Off to a pub to pick up some lovelies?”
“Actually, I have a date.”
“With whom?”
Tim felt the smile rolling back across his face. “That girl from the coffee shop. Jenna. I ran into her again last night and we hung out this afternoon.”
“And now you’re going out to dinner?”
“Yes.” The smile broadened.
“Careful, Tim. Hanging out four times. That’s practically a relationship.”
“I don’t know what it is. I haven’t even kissed her yet.”
He heard static on the line and thought perhaps Gavin had dropped the phone then he realized he was just talking to Phillip. “He hasn’t kissed her yet. I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Gav, wait.”
“Hi, Tim,” Phillip chimed from the background. “Tell me about the girl.”
“There’s nothing to tell. Yet.”
He could hear Gavin laughing. “You like this one, I can tell. Good for you. Don’t muck it up.”
“Thanks.”
“Well you’ve not got the best track record, you usually just shag whatever girl literally falls into your lap after a show. When was the last time you actually asked a girl out?”
“This afternoon.” Tim scrubbed his hand through his hair. He wasn’t in the mood to have Gavin analyze his dating patterns or lack thereof.
“And before that? Six months? A year?”
“A while. I know.”
“I’m just saying, if you like this girl, don’t do anything stupid. Where are you taking her for dinner?”
“Dunno. She said she knows a good Mexican place.”
“Well, don’t eat any onions. Even you’re not that charming.”
After Tim hung up he couldn’t help tossing around Gavin’s words. Don’t muck it up. Christ.
The closest thing he’d had to a relationship lately was a girl he’d dated on and off for a few months. She’d seemed relatively normal at first. Nicer than most of the groupies he’d met at shows, but she’d always been pretty pretentious. She name-dropped every chance she got and insisted on going to the “in” places rather than just hanging out someplace that might actually be fun.
When he told her he wasn’t taking her with him to the States, she’d had a holy fit and broke off with him. He was relieved. He’d been dreading calling things off and she’d saved him the trouble. She was, however, the most recent sex he’d had and that had been well over a month ago.
His mouth was suddenly dry. He popped into the market on the corner and grabbed a bottle of water and a tin of Altoids. Whatever happened tonight, fresh breath seemed a good idea.
Jenna was standing at the counter when he arrived, talking to the blonde woman. The second she saw him she smiled, making his nervousness melt away. She’d changed into a short patterned skirt, a black sweater and chunky-heeled black shoes, giving her a sweet but sexy schoolgirl look that made him swallow hard.
“Hey,” she said. “Tim, this is Natalie. She owns the café.”
Natalie waved as she continued taking cookies off the silver pan and placing them into the case. The two women exchanged a look that Tim couldn’t quite interpret but when Jenna turned back to him she was smiling again. “You ready? Oh. I brought your jacket.” She handed him the shopping bag.
“Thanks. Pleasure to meet you, Natalie.”
“Likewise.” She grinned and tossed Jenna another look. “You kids have fun.”
Jenna scooted out the door and Tim followed. There was no breeze and it felt much warmer than the night before. Or maybe it was just her presence. Being around her made him feel warm all over. “Mexican?” she asked, her head cocked to the side, hair falling across one eye before she tucked it behind her ear.
“Sure. But would you mind a quick stop at my place? I’d like to change.”
She hesitated, surveying him up and down. “Okay.”
They turned the corner onto his street. “How long have you worked for Natalie?”
“Since I came to the city, six years ago.”
“That’s a long time.”
“It is. I was only eighteen when I got here. I was enrolled at NYU but I had a falling out with my father and he stopped payment on my tuition. I couldn’t earn that much on my own, but I did manage to make enough to stay here, so I did.”
“You’ve been on your own ever since?”
She nodded. “My dad and I don’t see eye to eye on some pretty major issues. Right after I moved to New York my brother, Ethan, came out. My dad went totally caveman. ‘No son of mine is gonna be a…’” Her voice trailed off and for a second he thought she might cry. “He disowned Ethan and threw him out. He was only sixteen. I told my dad if Ethan wasn’t his son anymore then I wasn’t his daughter either. He said if he didn’t have a daughter there was no sense paying NYU all that money.”
“That’s awful. Do you think he expected you’d come back?”
“Probably. He’s used to people doing exactly what he wants them to do. He’s the president of a very successful record label. Most people kiss his ass all day.”
“Well, I can see why you didn’t. What happened with your brother?”
Jenna sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. “He disappeared, but a few years ago he tracked me down. He’s living in Miami with a serious boyfriend. They run a guest house together.”
“Do you get to see him?”
“Not often. We both work a lot and Miami’s pretty far away. I’m just glad he’s happy.”
“Sounds like you both made the right decision to leave home.” He stopped at the steps to his building. “I just need a minute. You want to come up?”
She squinted at him and he could tell she was still struggling with trusting him.
“I haven’t eaten quite all of the Pretzel M&M’s yet. You could have some while you wait.”
Her lips tugged into a smile.
He held the door for her when they got up to his flat. She walked in and slowly turned, her eyes scanning the kitchen. “This is a nice place. Is it a lot like your apartment in London?”
“Not really. Same overall size but I’ve got a lot more books and far fewer kitchen gadgets.”
“Don’t cook much?”
“Never had the need. Gavin’s a chef and my mum and sisters cook up a storm, someone’s always trying to feed me. I’m totally incompetent in a kitchen. I don’t even know what half these things do.”
Jenna giggled. “Like what?”
“Well I cou
ldn’t figure out the coffeemaker, for one.” He pointed to the elaborate stainless steel espresso machine.
“Ahh, so that’s why you frequent the coffee shop.”
“That was why initially. Now I stop by to check on the cute counter girl.”
Chapter Three
Five minutes later, Jenna’s cheeks were still flushed. The cute counter girl. He thinks I’m cute. Tim’s face had lit up when he first saw her reaction to the comment and that had made her blush even more.
Now he was in the bathroom changing clothes. He yelled to her through the door. “Don’t go eating all of my M&M’s while I’m in here.”
She shook her head and smiled. “Don’t you have some hair styling to do?”
“Oh, right. Forgot that. Need another minute.”
Jenna wandered around the apartment, although there wasn’t far to go. In the corner of the living room sat his guitar case, propped against the wall. She was amazed that she’d mentioned that her dad was a bigwig at a major record label and he didn’t even flinch. Every other musician she’d dated had tried his best to take advantage of the connection. One guy literally pulled a demo CD out of his back pocket and asked her to mail it to her dad while they waited for the waiter to bring their appetizers. It wouldn’t have been that bad if it hadn’t been their first date.
Tim was different. There was no denying that. It was enough to make her nervous. In some ways, it was easier when the guy was a known quantity. Even though he’d said she was cute, he could have just said it to be nice. She wasn’t even sure if this was a real date.
The bathroom door opened and she heard him flip off the light switch. She casually turned and he was steps away, looking good enough to eat in nothing more than a black t-shirt and a well-worn pair of jeans. His thick mop was expertly arranged into a tousled mess and the cologne he wore was warm and musky. If she were a different kind of girl, she would have pushed him down on the couch in a heartbeat, slipped her hands under his shirt and across his broad chest, finally seen what was under there. But she preferred it when the guy made the moves, did the chasing.